Archive By Section - Local News

Less than 18 months after voters passed a half-cent sales tax in November 2011 with Measure O to solidify public safety service and staffing levels, City Manager Bryan Whitemyer is proposing discarding those promises in an effort to balance the budget.

With the goal of saving the financially-strapped City of Oakdale operational costs, City Manager Bryan Whitemyer has reached out to the City of Turlock regarding the idea of their police department to take over police dispatch services for Oakdale PD.

The California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA), in association with the National Alliance of Two-Year College Athletic Administrators (NATYCAA), has announced Modesto Junior College has placed 11th out of 105 Community Colleges in the final standings of the 2012-13 NATYCAA Cup.

With dry winds forecast for many parts of Northern California, CAL FIRE has increased its staffing and is urging the public to be extra cautious due to the heightened fire danger. The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning stretching form Shasta County down through the Sacramento Valley to San Joaquin County starting Friday morning for high winds and low humidity lasting through Saturday evening.

California Dairy Campaign (CDC) members applauded Rep. Jim Costa, D-16, for his leadership in passing the "California Milk Marketing Order Act" in the House Agriculture Committee passed farm bill. Representative Jim Costa, D-16, spoke to the California Dairy Campaign board of directors and membership to discuss the farm bill, ethanol policy, immigration and water issues at the CDC office in Turlock.

The Bureau of Reclamation released Draft Water Banking Criteria for banking Central Valley Project water outside of a contractor's contract service area. Reclamation developed these criteria to implement water banking as authorized by the Central Valley Project Improvement Act and as allowed by certain federal contracts.

Rain was on the schedule for Memorial Day, Monday, May 27 but the weather remained mild and dry for the Memorial Day Ceremony at the Oakdale Citizens' Cemetery, which made for a pleasant remembrance for the good-sized attending crowd.

Modesto Area of the California Highway Patrol will be conducting a DUI and driver's license checkpoint on Saturday, May 25 between 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. somewhere within the unincorporated area of Stanislaus County.

With pleasant weather in the forecast for both days, the 21st annual Oakdale Chocolate Festival had thousands attend to enjoy the classic cars, entertainment, food, merchandise and crafts, and most of all, the chocolate.

As over 100 peace officers from 13 different law enforcement agencies in Stanislaus County converged in a one-day gang sweep, focusing on over 115 gang-related targets, one city's cops were absent from the posse – The City of Oakdale.